Nickel Climbs in London on Concern Delays Will Curb Supplies By Brett Foley March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Nickel rose for a second consecutive day in London on speculation delays to mining projects will exacerbate a shortage of the metal, forcing consumers to rely on dwindling inventories. Cia. Vale do Rio Doce's Goro project in New Caledonia, the largest nickel mine under construction, may take three years to reach full production with costs exceeding a $3 billion budget, Goro Nickel Chief Executive Officer Phil du Toit said today at a conference on the Pacific Island. Nickel inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange have slumped 83 percent in the past year. ``The new production that was meant to hit the market this year has not materialized,'' Peter Fertig, an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort in Frankfurt, said by telephone. ``Until that output comes through, high prices will prevail.'' Nickel for delivery in three months on the LME climbed $500, or 1.2 percent, to $43,000 a metric ton as of 1:23 p.m. in London. The metal used in stainless steel traded at a record $48,500 on March 16. Mining companies have struggled to keep up with demand as China, the world's largest user of the metal, expanded its stainless-steel industry. Most nickel is used to make the alloy. Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company, is planning two nickel projects in Indonesia and the U.S. to give it 5 percent of global production, Bret Clayton, the company's copper unit head, said today in an interview. Copper Gains Xstrata Plc made a $4 billion bid for Canada's LionOre Mining International Ltd. yesterday to gain control of mines in Australia, Botswana and South Africa and consolidate its position as the world's fourth-biggest producer of the metal. Nickel prices may continue to surprise investors, BHP Billiton Chief Executive Officer Charles `Chip' Goodyear said in a March 25 interview. BHP, the world's biggest mining company, faces delays at its Ravensthorpe nickel site in Australia, with production not expected until next year. Copper slipped $36, or 0.5 percent, to $6,815 a ton, paring this month's gain to 12 percent. New home sales in the U.S., the world's second-largest copper user after China, unexpectedly fell in February to the lowest level in almost seven years, the Commerce Department said yesterday. Builders are the biggest copper consumers in the U.S., putting about 400 pounds of the metal in the average U.S. home. LME-monitored inventories fell 0.5 percent to 180,500 tons, the lowest since Dec. 28. Aluminum rose $17 to $2,738 a ton amid signs of improving U.S. usage. U.S. and Canadian demand for the metal used to make cars and planes rose 1.5 percent in January from a year ago, the Arlington, Virginia-based Aluminum Association said yesterday. Aluminum inventories dropped 5.8 percent in February from the previous month, the London-based International Aluminium Institute said yesterday. Also on the LME, lead slipped $2 to $1,889 a ton and tin advanced $20 to $14,550. Zinc was unchanged at $3,245 a ton.
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